Tag Archives: author mindset

Happy Christmas Eve Eve (Even If You Don’t Do Christmas)

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I don’t celebrate Christmas—but I do celebrate vibes, good smells, full kitchens, and watching people I love light up like they just found batteries on December 24th.

Let’s get this out of the way first, because honesty is festive too:
I don’t celebrate Christmas in the traditional sense.

No tree theology debates.
No explaining myself at the dinner table.
No long essays about belief systems.

And yet—
I love this time of year.

I love the warmth that sneaks into houses.
I love seeing people soften.
I love the way joy gets louder and grudges get quieter, if only for a few days.

And yes—I absolutely buy gifts for my immediate family, because love speaks many languages, and sometimes it speaks through Amazon Prime and gift receipts.

The Thing About Holidays No One Says Out Loud

You don’t have to celebrate a holiday to enjoy the human behavior around it.

You don’t have to share a belief to enjoy the glow.
You don’t have to follow a tradition to honor the moment.

Some people celebrate with trees and hymns.
Some with candles and intention.
Some with food, laughter, and the smell of something comforting in the air.

All of that counts.

What I Do Instead (And Why My House Smells Amazing)

While others are hanging ornaments, I’m doing my own quietly pagan, earth-rooted thing—nothing dramatic, just intentional.

I cleanse my space.
I slow my pace.
I make my home smell like peace had a kitchen.

Here’s one of my favorite winter simmer pot recipes—simple, grounding, and deeply comforting:

Winter Hearth Simmer Pot

  • 1 sliced orange
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 5–6 whole cloves
  • 1 sprig of rosemary or pine
  • A splash of vanilla
  • Water to cover

Simmer low on the stove and let it fill the house with a scent that says, You are safe here.

No altar required.
No rules enforced.
Just warmth.

I also light candles with intention—gratitude for what survived the year, clarity for what I’m leaving behind, and space for what hasn’t arrived yet.

That’s my version of the season.

We’re All Doing This Differently—and That’s the Point

Some people go all in on Christmas.
Some don’t touch it at all.
Most of us live somewhere in between.

And that’s okay.

You’re allowed to enjoy the joy without adopting the doctrine.
You’re allowed to participate without performing.
You’re allowed to say, This part feels good to me, and leave the rest behind.

If anything, that’s the most honest way to honor a season built on light returning to dark.

A Note From the Author (Because Yes, I’m Still Writing)

I write about these in-between spaces a lot—the quiet moments people don’t know how to label.

If you like reflective, warm, slightly rebellious storytelling, you’ll probably enjoy some of my holiday-adjacent books too, including:

  • The Lamp of Christmas Eve – for readers who love atmosphere more than sermons
  • Unlocking Carolina’s New Year’s Day: Superstitions, Traditions, and Delicious Recipes
  • Hypothyroidism Holiday RECIPE Guidebook: Surviving the Season
  • The Witch’s Almanac Cookbook (2026 Edition): Seasonal Recipes, Spells, Rituals & Kitchen Magic
  • Healing Stews & Enchanted Brews: Holiday Magic
  • The Lamp at the End of the Corridor: A Story of Rejection, Redirection, and Resurrection for the Misfit Soul
  • The Lies We Loved: How Advertising Invented America
  • Revealing the Hidden Pagan Origins: Christian Perspectives on American Holiday Traditions
  • Before the Ink Is Dry – for those who sit with meaning instead of rushing past it
  • The Margin Notes – for anyone who lives in the quiet spaces others overlook
  • The Girls Who Never Left the Room
  • The Girl the Darkness Raised: A Memoir of Scarcity, Survival, and Becoming
  • The Girl in the Mirror Is Thirteen Again: The House That Yelled and the Woman Who Finally Heard Herself
  • The Making of the “Broken Child”: A System Built Before Diagnosis

You’ll find them under A.L. Childers on Amazon, and more of my writing over at TheHypothyroidismChick.com.

Disclaimer (Because Adults Still Need These)

This blog is not religious guidance, spiritual instruction, or an argument for or against any belief system. It is simply one human explaining how she experiences a season—and giving you permission to experience it your own way.

No judgment.
No conversion attempts.
No holiday policing.

Final Thought (Before the Cookies Burn)

If you celebrate—celebrate loudly.
If you don’t—rest joyfully.
If you’re somewhere in between—welcome to the club.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve.
May your house smell amazing, your heart feel lighter, and your boundaries remain intact.

A funny, heartwarming take on Christmas Eve Eve from someone who doesn’t celebrate Christmas—but loves the warmth, family joy, and cozy winter rituals that come with the season.

You Don’t Need Permission to Begin: A Letter to the Writer Who Hasn’t Published Yet

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If you are waiting for the right time, the right money, or the right permission to write your book—this is that moment knocking.

There are more unpublished books in the world than published ones.

Not because the stories aren’t worthy.
Not because the writers aren’t capable.
But because waiting has a very convincing voice.

It sounds responsible.
It sounds practical.
It sounds like wisdom.

“I’ll do it when I have more money.”
“I’ll do it when I know more.”
“I’ll do it when someone tells me I’m ready.”

And so the book waits.

I wrote Publishing Without Permission: What No One Explains for the people caught in that waiting—not because they lack talent, but because no one ever told them the truth:

Most books do not begin with confidence.
They begin with persistence.

Most writers do not feel ready.
They feel compelled.

And most people who eventually publish did not arrive with permission in hand—they stopped asking for it somewhere along the way.

The Myth That Stops Books Before They Start

Publishing has been dressed up as something expensive, exclusive, and technical. As if there is a secret door, only a few are allowed to open.

The truth is quieter—and far more freeing.

You do not need thousands of dollars to publish.
You do not need a publishing house.
You do not need to know everything before you begin.

Amazon KDP exists.
Free tools exist.
Entire YouTube libraries exist—created by writers who figured it out one step at a time and decided to explain it to others for free.

Is it work? Yes.
Is it impossible? No.

What is difficult is not the process.
What is difficult is believing your voice belongs on the shelf at all.

Why I Wrote This Book (Especially for You)

I did not write Publishing Without Permission for experts.

I wrote it for people with notebooks full of half-written thoughts.
For people who believe their life hasn’t been “interesting enough.”
For people who think the story has to be perfect before it can exist.

I wrote it because I know how easy it is to mistake delay for preparation—and how many stories disappear quietly because of it.

This book does not teach you how to upload files or format margins. I will be offering free resources and a free series for that—because the mechanics should never be a barrier.

This book exists to do something more important first:

To steady you.
To orient you.
To tell you what no one explains until after you’ve already learned it the hard way.

It explains what publishing feels like.
What happens after you hit publish.
Why silence does not mean failure.
And why waiting for approval is often the thing that keeps the book from ever being written.

Your Story Is Not Too Small

You do not need a dramatic life.
You do not need trauma.
You do not need to impress anyone.

You need honesty.
You need attention.
You need the courage to begin imperfectly.

What makes you different—the paths you’ve taken, the detours you survived, the ordinary moments that shaped you—may very well be the reason your book matters.

I still carry a notebook in my purse.

I write things down in grocery store parking lots.
I scribble lines I might forget.
Because I know that a passing thought or half-remembered moment could become the seed of the next book.

Stories do not announce themselves loudly.
They whisper—and they move on if ignored.

If You’re Still Hesitating

Let me say this plainly:

You do not need to publish tomorrow.
But you do need to stop telling yourself “someday” is guaranteed.

Write now.
Learn as you go.
Trust that clarity comes after motion, not before.

And when you’re ready to understand the emotional landscape—the parts no tutorial explains—that’s where Publishing Without Permission meets you.

Not with hype.
With honesty.
With steadiness.
With the reassurance that you are not behind—you are simply beginning.

Why This Book Might Be the Right First Step

  • It speaks to writers before they publish, not after
  • It removes shame from uncertainty
  • It names fears most writers think they’re alone in
  • It reframes publishing as practice, not performance

This is not a book about becoming famous.

It is a book about becoming brave enough to begin.

Disclaimer

This blog and the book it references do not guarantee sales, success, or outcomes. Publishing experiences vary. This content is offered as encouragement, perspective, and lived insight—not financial or professional promises.

About the Author

A.L. Childers is an independent author writing about creative endurance, publishing reality, and the discipline of continuing without permission. She believes stories are built through attention, not approval. You can find her writing at TheHypothyroidismChick.com and under A.L. Childers on Amazon.

A warm, inspiring message for writers who haven’t published yet—why you don’t need permission, money, or perfection to begin, and how Publishing Without Permission speaks directly to you.

The Quiet Work After Publishing: Why Silence Doesn’t Mean You Failed

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No one tells you that the hardest part of publishing often comes after the book goes live.

There is a strange quiet that follows publication—one that doesn’t feel like peace, but doesn’t feel like disaster either. It is simply… unanswered.

This is the space Publishing Without Permission lives inside.

Not the launch day.
Not the metrics.
Not the applause.

But the days after—when the book exists, and the writer must decide whether they do.

This book does not rush to reassure or dramatize that silence. It names it. It studies it. And it reframes it as part of the work—not a verdict on worth.

Publishing is not a moment. It is a practice.
Writing is not validated by response. It is sustained by commitment.

What most writers aren’t told is that legitimacy is rarely granted. It is accumulated—quietly—through continued effort, reflection, and refusal to stop.

This book walks with the writer who keeps going anyway.

Not because they were invited.
Not because they were approved.
But because the work mattered enough to continue.

Disclaimer
This blog reflects lived experience and perspective. It does not represent universal outcomes or publishing guarantees.

About the Author
A.L. Childers is an independent author writing at the intersection of creative labor, publishing reality, and personal endurance. Her work focuses on what remains after hype fades. Find her at TheHypothyroidismChick.com and on Amazon under A.L. Childers.



Publishing Without Permission: What No One Explains (Until It’s Too Late)

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Most writers don’t quit because they can’t write. They quit because no one tells them what publishing actually costs.

There is a version of publishing that gets sold loudly.

Write the book.
Hit publish.
Watch the world respond.

But for most writers—especially independent authors without agents, connections, or institutional backing—that story collapses almost immediately. What follows instead is quieter. Slower. Often lonelier. And rarely explained.

Publishing Without Permission: What No One Explains was written for that space.

This is not a guidebook, a checklist, or a promise of easy success. It does not pretend that publishing is neat, linear, or fair. It does not sell shortcuts or algorithms dressed up as certainty.

It tells the truth.

Written from lived experience rather than theory, this book explores what publishing actually feels like—before the book exists, after it goes live, and in the long, silent stretch where most writers are left to interpret the absence of response on their own.

It examines the invisible labor behind independent publishing:
the emotional crash after release,
the silence that follows,
the way numbers distort meaning,
and the discipline it takes to keep writing without validation or approval.

A.L. Childers does not offer hype. She offers clarity.

She names the things most writers only learn after the hard parts have already happened. She challenges the myth that permission arrives before the work, unpacks the illusion of gatekeepers and “professionalism,” and reframes publishing as an ongoing practice rather than a single moment of arrival.

This book is for writers who have published and felt unsettled by the silence afterward.
For those navigating publishing without agents or invitations.
For authors who suspect legitimacy is built through endurance, not approval.
For anyone who wants language for experiences that rarely make it into tutorials.

Publishing Without Permission is thoughtful, grounded, and quietly defiant. It is not about breaking rules.

It is about recognizing which ones were never real to begin with.

Why This Book Was Written

Because too many writers blame themselves for systems that were never built to explain the truth.
Because silence after publishing is not failure—but no one tells you that.
Because waiting for approval is often the very thing that keeps the book from existing.

This book exists to name what is usually endured privately—and to remind writers that continuing anyway is not naïve. It is disciplined.

Disclaimer
This book does not guarantee outcomes, sales, rankings, or recognition. It offers perspective, clarity, and lived insight—not promises. Publishing paths differ, and this work honors that reality.

About the Author
A.L. Childers writes about the unseen realities of creative work—publishing, independence, and the discipline it takes to keep going without permission. Her writing centers clarity over hype and experience over theory. You can find her at TheHypothyroidismChick.com and under A.L. Childers on Amazon.